Let's Play A Love Game
by bochlo
Summary: One wild night up in Gryffindor's girl's dorm playing 'The Love Game' may have lead up for a bucketful of trouble for Hermione. Ginny, Hermione's red haired brave best friend, has dared her to toy with the player of Hogwarts, Mister Draco Malfoy himself, and make him fall in love with her.
1. CHAPTER ONE - Hermione's POV

An eruption of giggles could be heard among Gryffindor's girl's dormitory. It was Ginny Weasley's sweet sixteenth and she had planned a birthday bonanza for all her friends. Butterbeer was ordered with hints of mead, compliments from Madam Rosemerta and the house elves had happily agreed to provide food fit for a party. But it was only when the clock stuck midnight that Ginny gathered her girls round in a circle to play a little game.

"Come 'round girlies," She winked, beckoning her friends and earning a suspicious glance from Hermione, "It's time to play The Love Game."

"Ginny," Hermione hissed, "is this really the best idea?"

"Relax Hermione," Ginny laughed, "It's all going to be good, trust me. The boys won't even know what hit them."

Everybody crowded round, and Hermione leant against the wall, biting her lip nervously.

"Oh gosh Hermy," Lavender squealed, "don't be such a worrywart!"

The girls laughed at her and Hermione felt her stress slip away. How bad could it be?

"Now we all know how to play this game, yes?" Ginny looked around the circle and stopped when a girl shook her head confusedly.

Ginny cleared her throat and plastered a smug grin on her face, "The Love Game is a game where you draw a boy from this hat, and the aim of the game is to make him fall in love with you. Clear enough?"

The girls nodded and giggled. Ginny began placing the cut up slips with the names of the boys she had prepared earlier while Hermione watched with bated breath.

Ginny continued, "Now there are three simple rules when playing this game. One, the person your playing the game to must not know ANYTHING about the game. Two, you CANNOT snitch to your friend's player as this will be classified as cheating and you will be held in disgrace. Three," Ginny looked round the circle and winked at Hermione, "You are NOT allowed, to fall in love with your player. Are we all clear?"

"Yes Ginny," the girls chorused excitedly. The Hat was passed around in the circle and each girl was to take a folded slip.

When it came to Hermione's turn, her hand trembled as she rummaged for a slip.

"Please don't be Ron or Harry, Please don't be Ron or Harry," she chanted in her head. She grabbed her piece of paper and handed the hat to the next girl who pounced on it eagerly.

Once each girl had received their slip, Ginny expertly fished one out and said, "Now on the count of three we shall open our slips. One, two... Three!"

Hermione fumbled with hers and her mouth fell open as her eyes met a name that would change her life forever.

'Draco Malfoy'.

My heart beat in my chest as I re-read the small slip of paper in my hands over and over again.

_'Draco Malfoy'  
><em>  
>Could it be? I've known that little ferret since I saw him get sorted into Slytherin. Nasty little thing he is, but he does have really nice body..<p>

"Hermione!" yelled Ginny into my ear.

I jumped and clutched the paper to my chest ,blushing furiously, Ginny would have a fit if she knew I was day dreaming about _Malfoy._

"Who did you get, who did you get," sang Ginny teasingly. She suddenly thrusted her piece of paper into my hands and squealed with delight, "I got Harry! Oh Hermione I tell you, this is going to be the BEST game yet!" She daintily pressed the back of her hand against her forehead and swooned.

I laughed dumbly along, but in fact I knew that Harry always had a thing for Ginny, and if she were to break the rules of telling him about the game, his heart would be crushed.

Girls were squealing and laughing and making disgusted faces all round, but once they settled down they slipped out of our dormitory quietly, as to not wake the boys next door.

Ginny winked at me and said, "Tomorrow is going to be great, I can't wait to see what happens."

We began to get ready for bed, and I glanced at the crumpled slip in my hands once more and hastily shoved it in my cabinet drawer. Ginny noticed the kerfuffle and couldn't stop smirking.

"Hermione," she said slowly, "Who DID you get?"  
>She looked at me knowingly and it took me quite a bit of effort to get it out.<br>"I got Draco." I whispered, looking down at my feet. I was wearing the Weasley socks that Molly had knitted for me, 'Pink and gold,' she had said, 'to always remind me that I was a star.'

There was a hush of silence as the other girls overheard our conversation. Then as suddenly, a babble of gasps erupted as one of the Gryffindor girls Veeta, said cautiously,  
>"You do realize that he's THE Player of the school, and to get to him, you have to get past Pansy Parkinson?"<p>

"Yes," I sighed and looked up, "To be honest with you girls, I'm not really sure I can do it." I gave a shrug and sat defeated on my bed. I've always wanted to be exotic and exiting, but the truth stood clear. I was just Hermione Granger, the most boring Head Prefect alive.

"Don't worry Hermy," Ginny grinned placing her small hand on my shoulder, "Tomorrow, us Gryffindors have Quidditch trials with the Slytherins first thing in the morning, and you're definitely coming to watch me." she winked and the girls laughed.

"Who knows," said Lin in her lilting accent, "maybe you'll catch a glimpse of that mysterious Draco Malfoy.."

"I'll miss you when you move into the Head Prefect dorm, make sure you visit yeah?" Ginny smiled.

"I'll pop by everyday!" I grinned back.

"Maybe you'll even bring Malfoy with you.." Lavender swooned.

I gave a forced laugh and bid everyone goodnight. Laying down curled up in my warm blanket, I watched as the moon began it's descend.

_Draco Malfoy. Draco Malfoy._ _THE Draco Malfoy_.

Those words kept echoing in my head as I tried to sleep. As much as I told myself that he was a vile creature and a horrible excuse for a man, the little voice in my head still persistently thought he was quite the attractive person. He was lovely to Pansy, and he really does have manners.. So in the end, I gave in to that little voice, and sighed happily in my sleep.

I walked with Ginny to the Great Hall where the first thing I noticed was that each of the girl that had played the Love Game last night, now had a boy they clung to.  
>I pointed this out to Ginny who laughed and said, "Watch me approach Harry, I'll show you how it's done."<br>Ginny let her fiery hair down and hitched up her skirt a little bit.

Unhooking her arm from mine, she swayed her hips to where Harry was sitting at the Gryffindor table. Harry looked up as she was walking and I could see that his eyes grew bigger as he swallowed hard. I laughed and couldn't help but comparing Ginny and Harry to a lioness stalking a deer.

"Oi!" Ron yelled slapping Harry across the head, "Stop checking out my little sister!"

Harry coughed and looked away, bright red. "Uh, y-yeah sorry mate."  
>Ginny slid next to him and winked at me. This was already a tell-tale sign that she already had him hooked around her finger. Smiling to myself, I walked over to where she was sitting and got captured into a heated conversation about ancient runes that I happily added some points in.<p>

I caught my eyes beginning to flick towards Malfoy's direction at the Slytherin table, and I would turn my head and blush before he caught me staring at him. It seemed like he was in a pretty happy mood today, I could see him and his friends conversing about what seemed to be this morning's quidditch try outs. Every so often he would flick his hair and the sunlight would catch it, making it seem like his hair was flawless. I continued watching him, entranced by his movement. Just then I swear his pale blue eyes were looking directly at me.

Wait.. What?

Oh god, Malfoy was staring at me. I whipped my head around and blushed furiously behind my curtain of hair. I must look like an absolute creep to him. I resurfaced still red, but only to join the Runes conversation I had interest in earlier. But now, I only had interest in digging my self a hole where I can hide forever. When I finally got the courage to peek at him one more time, my eyes travelled to the spot where he was sitting and I found that he was no longer there anymore.

"Looking for me Granger?" came a drawl from behind me. I jumped in shock and spilt pumpkin juice all over myself. I knew that voice.

"What, me? No way," I rambled, "I mean it cant've be me haha I was talking about Ancient Runes haha who would look for you anyway-"

He suddenly bent down his head next to mine and I shivered, I could smell his cologne and boy was it good. "You know," he said enticingly, "If you're going to fantasize over me, at least do it when I'm playing quidditch so I don't get distracted by you."

"I, uh-" I tried to reassemble my words but it was no use. For once in all my life, Hermione Granger was tongue-tied.

I could feel the glare of the Gryffindor table beam towards Draco. From the corner of my eye I saw Ron with his mouth hanging open in shock, food half chewed and all.

"I'll be seeing you at quidditch," he breathed in my ear before straightening up and addressing Harry. The people around us where dumbstruck, what on earth was happening?

"So, ahem," Draco coughed, smirking at me. Dipping his head to Harry he said, "May the best man have the best team." and left towards the quidditch grounds.

During the awkward silence at the Gryffindor table, I managed to sneak a peak at Pansy who was just as I predicted. Green as poison ivy. She looked at me like she was ready to kill.

Watching Draco's retreating back, Ginny whistled at me and said, "I don't know how you do that girl but that was mighty fast."

"I have no clue," I replied, grinning as I watched Pansy storm off after Draco.  
>"But Pansy's pissed. When Pansy's pissed, shit's about to get down."<p> 


	2. CHAPTER TWO - Draco's POV

I walked out the great hall undoing my cuff links, smirking at anyone who gawped at my direction. Yes, I had flirted with Granger a little bit, but that was only a small step of my huge master plan to make her fall in love with me. All the other girls I had played with easily came for me after a little persuasion, but Hermione was different. This chick was feisty, and we all know how I like my girls with a little spice.

Making my way towards the Qudditch field, my eyes looked around the field and almost instantly landed where Hermione sat with her pathetic friends. Don't get me wrong, Potter may have been 'The Boy Who Lived' but to me he was still an arrogant boy with a head to big for his body. And with that Weasley kid, he's probably gone blind by the amount of red he sees on a daily basis.

I continued watching her in the corner of my eye, and when she laughed at something that the ginger weasel said to her, I felt my hands clench in my pockets. When Weasley himself reached in and placed his hand on her shoulder, the only thing stopping me from breaking his neck was a cold hand grabbing my shirt and pulling me back.

"Draco!" a whiny voiced rang in my ears. I flinched as the voiced continued in it's high pitched tones, "What was going on back there with chipmunk?"

I turned around to face Pansy, and she proceeded to give me what I believe girls call, 'The Puppydog Look'. I shuddered in disgust and tried to unwrap her bony fingers off of me.

"It's none of your business Pansy," I growled, "Get off me!"

I managed to free myself of the death grip and Pansy gave a hiss of displeasure.  
>"You're playing a dangerous game here Malfoy," she glared at me, "If you really think that you can just ditch me and please yourself with that <em>mudblood, <em>" she spat the word out menacingly, almost as if she was plotting revenge, "Then you are wrong. Very, very wrong."

She stomped off, and everyone in her way scattered like she was a bomb about to go off in seconds. My brow creased as I thought of what really was going to happen if I messed around with Granger. It wasn't like I was actually had feelings for her or anything, she was just a little project that I wanted to experiment with. After all, the boys know when to back off when I have my eye on a girl.

But was I really feeling jealousy when Hermione was around other boys?

A whistle of amusement caught my attention as I whipped around to see my best mate grinning.

Logan Beaconsfield was his name. Born only a day after me and a close family friend.  
>Logan was the badboy, with more cuss words known than the encyclopedia of swearing and tattoos inked all around his forearms. I had no idea why Dumbledore still kept him around. But with his carefully styled brown hair and gleaming green eyes, he was the second most sought male at Hogwarts.<p>

After me, of course.

"_That_," he emphasized, "was certainly some show."  
>I raised my eyebrow and drew my finger across my neck, comically acting like I was about to get blown to bits by Pansy's evil stare.<p>

He laughed at me, and I grinned back. As much as his rash ideas annoyed me, I admired that son of a bitch more than anybody else in my life.

Suddenly stopping, he looked at me seriously and said, "You do know that by playing with Granger's heart, she's going to be in deep shit with Parkinson right?"

"Haha, are you kidding me? Any girl that I happen to look at for a second would have Pansy down their throat." I joked.

"I'm not kidding around here mate, I want you to seriously reconsider your little 'Project' with Granger. I don't about this Love Game bullshit that everyone is talking about but it has to stop."

I looked him in the eye and laughed. "Seriously Logie? When did you ever become so somber?"

He sighed, ran his fingers through his hair and said, "I'm not joking Malfoy, I mean it. Hermione's not like other girls, she deserves better."

"Better? What do you mean by better?" I smirked, "as if there was anyone better than me." I taunted him, wanting to see how far he could stretch.

He groaned in frustration and and gripped my shoulder angrily.

"Dude, what's got into you?" I pushed his hand away and stared at him, worried. "Did Pomfrey give you a concoction that made you crazy-"

"_Malfoy._" he said through gritted teeth, his eyes flickering towards where Hermione sat. "_Don't you understand_?"

"Understand what-"

"I like her!" he hissed, cutting me off and lowering his voice.

There was a dead silence between us as I tried to regain some stability with this news. Granger? When did this happen? How? Why?

I struggled to make sense of it all. All I knew was that I was going to win Hermione, this is one battle I couldn't afford to lose.

"Well," I smirked, beginning to regain some composure. "It seems like we have a competition on our hands."

Logan tilted his head, "What do you mean by that, Daddy's boy?"

"We want the best for Granger, yes?"

He nodded.

"Then it's the man who manages to capture her heart first. She's a smart girl, she'll pick the right one." I was determined now, there was no going back.

Logan stood up straight, addressing me as if we enemies locked in a battle.

"For Hermione," he grinned.

"For Hermione."

It was time for the quidditch tryouts where Gryffindor and Slytherin shared the pitch. It was to be decided in three short matches, and the best players on each team are selected to be permanent members. Slipping on my seeker gloves, I scanned the roaring crowd once more for Hermione.

'How could it be,' I thought, 'how on earth did Logan end up crushing this hard on Hermione?'

I wasn't allowed time to think it through as I was ushered onto the field to face twelve hopefuls to make it onto the Slytherin Quidditch team.

'Never mind,' I told myself, 'It'll be an easy win for me anyway, I'm Draco Malfoy."

Flashing my trademark smirk along the crew members, I heard several people hoot my name and I shouted, veins pumping with exhilaration, "Who's ready to kick some Gryffindor ass?"

It was only halfway through the tryouts when I noticed something was terribly wrong. Our best keeper, Daniel, was having trouble controlling one of the quaffles.

"It was fine earlier!" he shouted at me through heavy pants, "I don't what's wrong now!"

"Here!" I sped towards him on my broomstick, "Let me try."

As soon as I reached over and let the tip of my gloved fingers touched the red quaffle, it zoomed out of both of our grasps and flew rapidly as it gained more speed. The Gryffindor and Slytherin beaters chased after it, but no one could get close enough.  
>It looked like it was headed for the Gryffindor stand, but it was only until pushed my broomstick to fly as close as I could that I realized it's intended target.<p>

"Hermione." I whispered numbly, my mouth dry. "HERMIONE!"

My mind blanked and suddenly, I knew what to do. I grasped the handle of my broomstick and urged it to fly faster. I was so close! I could nearly touch the round surface of the ball with my fingertips. My mind whirred as I came to the conclusion that I would never be able to catch the speeding quaffle in time.

I heard the crowd screaming, and then my thoughts clicked into place.

Pulling up and rocketing through above the quaffle, I dived and scooped Hermione up before the ball wrecked her.

It flew through the stand, knocking over Gryffindors who were seated and leaving huge wooden splinters on the robes of the surroundings. A huge crater was left after impact, and I was still in the air holding Hermione as tight as I could without hurting her.

I could feel her thundering heartbeat and remembered that I always used to tease Hermione about her fear of heights in third year.  
>Her eyes were squeezed shut, her slender fingers grabbed a fistful of my robes and and pulled, her knuckles turning white.<p>

"You can open your eyes now," I smiled, watching as Hermione slowly opened one eye and then shut it as quick.

"Put me down," she whimpered, "please!" She buried her face closer to my body, and soon tears began to spring from her eyes.

I could feel something ache inside of me, seeing her so vulnerable for the first time under that strong facade. Something bad must've happened to her that instigated her fear of heights.

"Hold on tight.." I whispered, and gently flew the broom to the ground and lowered Hermione.

Once I touched land, she scrambled out of my arms and was immediately greeted by a frantic Madam Pomfrey with a shock blanket.

"W- what, what happened?" She said, her trembling body beginning to stop shaking after the shock blanket's magic began to take effect.

"Granger, I just saved your life."

Then the crowd went wild.

a/n: hey guys! if you liked the story so far, please support me in my writing endeavours by writing a small review (even a sentence will do!) and a follow to make sure you don't miss out on anything that's happening :')

i upload every saturday so stay tuned! xx


	3. CHAPTER THREE - Hermione's POV

**a/n: dedicated to tearryn xx **

My head buzzed as I struggled to comprehend what was going on. Draco? Saving me?  
>I could still hear the crowd screaming and shouting, roaring his name in approval as he slowly descended, his muscular but lean arms still carefully holding on to me.<p>

As we touched the ground of the quidditch pitch, a stampede of students and teachers rushed over. Some to pat Draco on the back, some to shout out if I was okay but most were just standing there in shock, their mouths agape. It was here when I realized how overwhelming a huge crowd was. I winced, and Draco moved closer to me, slipping his arm around my waist.

As much as I hate to admit it, I was grateful for the way he still held me protectively. Without him, I probably would have been trampled over by now. As I inched closer, I couldn't help but breathed in his scent. He smelt relatively nice actually, the cologne hinted tones of warmth and comfort. The heat that radiated him was astonishing for one that looked so cold. The events of what just happened came flashing past again, and I grimaced and looked down, Draco chuckled at me.

"Are you smelling me now Granger?" he whispered.

"I-er.." I said, embarrassed at my inability to form a sentence. My blush started to rise again as I averted my gaze.

He chuckled louder this time and cracked a grin. Looking back I marveled at how white his teeth were, how long did it take him to get his teeth perfect I wonder?

"Don't worry about it," he winked, "We all know I'm irresistible."

I opened my mouth, just about to retort when Madam Pomfrey came back with several bottles in her hand.

"Well done Malfoy," she huffed, "thank you for saving Miss Granger here, but I'd have to take her off your hands if you please."

"Sure thing." he said, carefully moving his hand away from my body. I felt a rush of cold hit me and I shivered, missing the warmth that radiated from him. I stumbled before regaining my balance, and Draco's arm shot out to help me stand.

"Thank you," I mumbled, nervous. Why did he always have to have such an effect on me?

"I'll see you tonight," he nodded, "Remember, Prefect duties at 10."

I nodded my head in agreement as he let go and quickly scampered after Madam Pomfrey, who was rambling about how quidditch was such a dangerous sport and that kids these days should be sticking to knitting and reading their books. I murmured in response and just let her do the talking.

Why did Draco save me? It wasn't like he was my close friend or anything, because I hardly knew him at all. I even slapped him across the face once!

I couldn't bear to think anymore with this racket going on. I guess I'll have to say thank you to him later when we patrol the grounds.

When we had reached the hospital wing, I perched on one of the comfortable stark white beds and allowed Madam Pomfrey to do her job. I had hardly noticed she had finished, until she looked at me and sighed, rolling her eyes.

"So you have a thing for Mr Malfoy, right Miss Granger?" she smiled.

"What!" I laughed nervously, "of course not, you of all people know how much tension is between us.." If the teachers found out above the Love Game, we could die! Or worse, get expelled..

But the blush in my cheeks must've given me away as Madam Pomfrey said knowingly, "Now now, I saw the way you looked at him Miss Granger. To my calculations that was definitely more than a mere crush." she winked at me and I cringed, wanting nothing but another big hole to swallow me up.

She laughed again and said happily, "Don't you worry my dear, you can trust Poppy! You'll do a world of good for that boy, and you can quote me on that."

"Um, thanks Madam Pomfrey, I'm feeling a lot better now." I stood up, and headed towards the door.

I was stunned and very embarrassed as Madam Pomfrey, or 'Poppy' as she referred to herself, patted me on the back and ushered me outside, reminding me that my friends were all buzzing around outside and that I needed to move them so they weren't blocking the hospital wing corridor.

Oh boy, I sighed, what on earth have I gotten myself into.

"You're back!" Ginny gushed as she rushed towards me, "are you alright?"

"Oh my gosh Hermione, you are already winning the game!" Parvati squealed, "Will you tell me what he's like in bed?"

I smiled and said, "I don't think I'm there just yet, sorry Parvati, come back tomorrow maybe?" The girls laughed at my joke, and I felt myself grow happier. Maybe today wasn't so bad after all, at least I didn't get smashed by the quaffle. With one hand on my shoulder Ginny propelled me to the crowd of Gryffindors awaiting what I had to say.

"Hermione!" Harry yelled, relieved to see me. "did Malfoy hurt you?"

"You alright?" Ron asked worriedly, walking up to stand next to Harry.

"I'm fine, no scratches or anything." I replied back, smiling at how thoughtful they were. I was glad to have good friends like them. Both Ron and Harry grinned at my answer.

"Great! Now that's over, we really need to copy some of your homework on potions." Ron said.

I rolled my eyes at them and shook my head. Just like those two to ruin what hope I had in them. Sinking into the plush red couch, I realized that it was just the beginning of lunch and that I had missed my Arithmancy class. I jumped up and went to grab my bag by the roaring fireplace, ready to prepare for potions.

"Hermione!" called a small portly girl with dashes of freckles across her tan face, "Tell us what it was like to be in Draco's arms!"

The crowd laughed and yelled their approval. I shook my head grinning, these girls really were in love with Malfoy.

"It was nothing much really," I laughed, "I was just thankful he managed to save me in time."

"He was so fast! said Colin Creevy in shock. "Look! I've even got a picture of him racing towards you."

He gave me a photo card and my eyes grew wider as I watched the scene unfold on a piece of paper.

Draco was flying towards me at break neck speeds, and just in time, his strong arms flew out to catch me and rocketed safely into the air. Shock was quite apparent on my face, captured nicely by the camera. A few seconds later I could see the bright red quaffle slam into the metal of the stands and the crowd cheering crazily, waving and shouting like mad hooligans.

"Wow, this is really well shot." I smiled at the budding news reporter who seemed to glow with the praise directed at him.

"N-no worries Hermione," he blushed, "you can keep it if you want."

I thanked him and watched him retreat back into the crowd as another bout of questions began firing at me.

"That's enough people, back away! She's answering my questions now." a giggling Ginny giddy with excitement dragged me to the dormitory where there was finally silence.

"I grabbed you a cheese sandwhich," she started, throwing me a hot brown lunch bag, "now tell me what happened."

"It.. Was interesting." I bit down and let the gooey goodness of this sandwich fill my mouth. Damn, I was really hungry.

"I'm serious Hermy," Ginny sat down next to me and grinned, "I've never seen him act like that before. Out of nowhere, he just saved your life! You know he'd never do that unless something was in it for him."

"It was really weird," I recounted, "I just remember the quaffle coming too close for comfort and then I was up in the air? Seriously though, I was about to vomit everywhere if Draco didn't put me down."

Ginny laughed loudly and wiped away a fake tear. "Young love.." She sighed.

"Haha, very funny. That is the aim of the game after all. To make him fall in love with me, right?"

"Right." But Ginny looked worried. "I'm just scared, what if the quaffle incident today wasn't actually an accident? This is dangerous you know, I'm scared for my best friend's life."

I smiled, touched at her words. "I'm fine, don't worry about anything. It's not like it'll happen again."

We retreated into silence. Me munching on my grilled cheese and Ginny reclining on her pillow.

"You are sleeping with him in the prefect dormitory tonight, right?" She asked suddenly.

"Yes," I nodded, "in separate rooms."

Ginny exploded with a snort and then cascaded into giggles.

"Wait, what's so funny?" I asked, my mouth full of the last few bites of the sandwich. She looked at me disbelievingly and passed me a paper fan.

I looked at it and turned it over in my hands, confused. "Ginny," I said, "thanks but, don't you know the weather is getting colder?"

"You'll need it," Ginny said solemnly.

"What, why-"

"I'm warning you now Hermione, I've heard that Draco sleeps only in his boxers. If you catch a glimpse of that, I'd rather you fan yourself than die of heatstroke. He is hot hot hot!"

I laughed and shook my head disbelievingly. "I seriously don't think-"

"Save it!" She interrupted, forcing the fan into my hand. "I'll see you tomorrow morning, you can thank me then."


	4. CHAPTER FOUR - Draco's POV

I strolled in to the prefect's dormitory, shrugging off the heavy cloak that lay a burden on my shoulders, draping it upon a nearby seat as the fireplace illuminated the room as night settled in. Sighing as I undid the first few buttons of my shirt, I thought that getting harassed by girls all over the school was not one of my favourite ways to end the day.

I spotted a certain brown haired girl perched by the fire, so engrossed in the book that she didn't notice I had arrived. As I thought of ways I could annoy her, I tiptoed gently across to where she sat.

Casually looming over, I quickly grasped the book from her hands as she emitted a loud, "Oh!" in surprise and turned around to glare at me.

"Draco!" she shouted in annoyance, a red tinge now creeping onto her cheeks. "Wh-what are you doing here, I thought your shift ended at 12? Hey, give me back my book!"

I stood tall to my full height, a smirk now playing on my lips.  
>"If you want it back," I goaded, "you have to come and get it.."<p>

She scrambled ungracefully to her feet, and I had to bite back another laugh that was seconds away from erupting. Hermione huffed as she evaluated her position in this "crisis".

"Draco Malfoy.." she said, the words of my name rolling off her tongue, her twinkling eyes met mine and I stared back, challenging her.

"Yes?" I breathed out, trying to regain my composure. I do like my girls with a little bit of spice.

"You mean to tell me.. you didn't notice those ink splotches that were all over the back of your shirt?"

Come to think of it, the back of my shirt did feel a little wet.

"No way.." I ripped off my shirt and stared at the ink soaked fabric in dismay, "why didn't anybody tell me?"

This was what I hate about this school, everyone was so immature.

"Wait a minute.." The ink began to rapidly vanish and I whisked around to the sight of a giggling Hermione scampering up the stairs, a book held tightly to her chest. Putting my shirt back on, I grinned as I realized how good Granger had gotten with silent charms.

"I'm coming to get you!" I shouted, and making a run for the door. I almost stopped myself, then I remembered she was the instigator, I was just having some fun.

Shaking it off, I grinned to myself, twisted the door knob and stepped into the room.  
>Hermione was already sat curled in the old fashioned reading chair near her bed, her soft brown eyes scanning the pages hungrily, taking in all the information she could.<p>

Seeing her like this.. It was almost refreshing. I could just stand there forever, watching her concentrate so hard on just one little book, seeing the way the curl of her fringe would drop down across her face, how her eyes would just pause a little, whenever she found something she was uncertain of.

Hermione to me, was someone I've never met before. A whole new person, who brought along a whole new world.

I kept on watching and thinking like this for a while, leaning against the wall before a sharp voice snapped in my head.  
>"Draco!" it shrilled, "you're going all sentimental boy, wake up!"<p>

I strode confidently towards Hermione, snatched the book once again from her hands and perched down comfortably on her bed next to her.

'"No matter how hard you kick, no matter how high you get, you can't go all the way round."' I read, as Hermione looked tentatively beside me.

"Stop it Draco," she said, sighing. "It's just a muggle book that my friend owled to me, you don't have to read it."

'"Swing set currently resides near 83rd and Spring Mill."' I continued, "Sounds interesting."

I turned the book around carefully in my hands, making sure not to lose the page, and took a peek at the cover. The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green.

I flipped through the pages, and read another excerpt from the book.

'"That's the thing about pain, Augustus said, and then glanced back at me. It demands to be felt."'

I chuckled softly. I didn't realize Hermione liked reading sentimental love stories. I always thought her type of book was encyclopedias and Hogwarts A History.

"Draco.." she said softly.

My heart pounded faster, my eyes traveling to her lips as she spoke.

"Yes?" I replied huskily, swallowing what seemed to be a lump in my throat.

"Could I please have my book back?"

She sat up, and a tendril of her soft brown curls swept across her face. My hand itched to gently tuck it behind her ear, but I didn't dare.

"Well, I've come this far.." I sighed, "Guess I'll have to read the whole book to you now."

Hermione looked surprised, but she sat back down and snuggled underneath the duvet that I threw to her, waiting for me expectantly as I began to read.

"This better be good.." she murmured.

"Oh, you bet it'll be." I winked.

I progressed further into the book as the night drew on, the moonlight now settling in through the cracks of the curtains. Page after page, love after heartbreak, I was already so deep into the book that I didn't noticed Hermione had drifted off to sleep. I read the last part of the page, pausing every so often to see if she had woken up. Just in case.

"I'm in love with you, and I'm not in the business of denying myself the simple pleasure of saying true things. I'm in love with you, and I know that love is just a shout into the void, and that oblivion is inevitable, and that we're all doomed and that there will come a day when all our labour has been turned to dust, and I know that the sun will swallow the only earth will ever have, and I am in love with you."

I put the book down on her bedside table and closed it softly. She was fast asleep now, her chest rising and falling with every intake of breath.

I've never felt this peaceful before. I've never had this type of relationship with somebody who'd just listen to me, even though I was just reading them a book. I've never experienced this before, but I want to do it again, and again, and again.

A mumble from Hermione woke me up from my thoughts, as she turned in her bed and settled for the colder side of the pillow.

She is beautiful, no matter what anybody says.

I deserved that slap that she threw at me in my third year at Hogwarts, I deserved every bit of hate and insult that was lashed at me from her and her friends.

It built me up to be a better man, to understand my faults and flaws, and shaped me to the person I am today.

Most of all, I learned from my mistakes.

I didn't even ask for a reward, but here it is, cuddled up in her dreams right in front of me.

I made up my mind to protect Hermione, no matter what. Today was just the beginning of lots to come.

I wasn't sure what it was, but my heart swelled with happiness whenever I saw this brown haired girl.

Maybe this was when I realized I was in the deep end, and there was no swimming back.


End file.
